McCain urged to chip in more for potato growers

McCain Foods is being urged to follow the lead of a Tasmanian potato processor by increasing prices for Ballarat growers.

Simplot has given its Tasmanian growers a 13 per cent price increase to help them to recover from floods.

The executive officer of the McCain Ballarat Growers Group, Laura Bowles, says McCain is still asking growers to accept a price cut of $27 per tonne compared to last season.

She says growers in the Ballarat area have lost up to a quarter of their crops due to flooding.

"It's interesting that when Simplot's putting lower offers on the table, McCain are using them as an example as to what they should be paying, yet Simplot can afford to manage to pay their growers quite reasonably and McCain aren't going to be doing the same, by the look of it," she said.